


Fog

by Alexa_Piper



Series: Ectober 2020 [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Ectober (Danny Phantom), Ectober Week 2020 (Danny Phantom), Gen, Not really angst but maybe some mild existential horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:00:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27178244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexa_Piper/pseuds/Alexa_Piper
Summary: "As Phantom, he’d wondered why he still bothered."AKAA re-imagining of the Fenton Ghost Portal and the transition between life and death. What does this mean for halfas, who regularly switch between the two?
Series: Ectober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983812
Comments: 2
Kudos: 62





	Fog

Phantom didn’t know why he ever bothered to go back.

Nevertheless, he drifted mindlessly, eyes closed and hands outstretched, feeling for the slightest tendril of a change in pressure. The familiar tickle of a foreign world soon brushed against his fingertips, and he pressed into the sensation.

The swirling contrast of violet and acidic green of the Ghost Zone melted into a darkness so dense that it crushed his body in a vicious grip. It had scared him the first time, but now it was little more than another facet of the entire frustrating inconvenience of it all.

Gravity pulled him down with an abrupt swoop in his gut. His feet hit hard ground and Phantom stumbled before beginning to walk, the soft squeaky tread of rubber boots the only sound in the black void. It was disorienting at first, to walk instead of float, but his legs worked out the initial clumsiness after a dozen or so steps, and so he ignored the carefree tug of the world behind him and kept moving. The further he went the heavier the darkness became, and Phantom grimaced as pressure began to build beneath his ribs.

Soft grey swirls melted out of nowhere, rising from the invisible floor in muted waves of rolling fog. Phantom’s core fluttered, urging him back to the safety of the Ghost Zone, but he pushed the feeling down and continued to walk. The fog closed around him in a muffling swathe. It was thick enough to mask his own footsteps, and bright enough to illuminate his form as his ghostly glow flickered out.

Phantom paused to press his hands against his chest, massaging the spot as his form continued to tighten. He opened his mouth and the fog rushed in. For a horrible moment he felt like he was about to burst, but then he heaved in his first breath. At almost the exact same moment, a weight settled in his chest with a thud that made his ears ring, beating with the frantic pulse of life. The drag of a sudden physical form drove him to his knees, and he gulped in air with a sudden terrifying _need,_ curling up until his forehead hit the ground and wheezing as he clutched his chest even tighter. Bones snapped into place, and Danny yelped at the sudden cramping of newly-formed muscles before sharpness quickly dulled to tingling pins and needles.

The fog was cold and damp against his exposed face and arms. Shivering, Danny took a shaky breath before pressing his hands against the smooth floor and staggering back to his feet, the fog dissipating as he pushed the final few steps through the dimensional barrier into his parents’ basement.

He ran his hands over his arms, trying to dispel the goosebumps, and spared another moment to adjust to the process of being alive before he shuffled over to where a bottle of water waited. Taking a long swig that stung his throat with sharp _sensation,_ he sagged against the bench and shuddered as the final wisps of being a ghost tucked themselves back into his core.

He hated going into the Ghost Zone, but there was no other way to recharge. He needed to do it. It was a matter of life and death.

Still, everything seemed so different when he was Phantom, and as Danny took another drink of water that felt like it sandpapered his brand new throat, he wondered if one day he would give in. It had been easier, at the start, to push through the dimensional weakness between worlds, but the more time he spent as Phantom, the harder it had become to think like a human.

A shudder ripped through him as he remembered what he’d been thinking. As Phantom, he’d wondered why he still bothered.

Screwing the cap back onto the bottle, he headed for the stairs, hoping that it was still daytime so he could go and stand in the sun until the cobwebs cleared from his mind.

The Ghost Zone was beautiful, and made his core sing with wholesome energy. He knew that he would die fully without it, but he tried to avoid going there until absolutely necessary.

As he stepped out the back door into late afternoon sunlight, Danny took a breath so deep it ached. He was glad he’d returned in time to feel its warmth.

Shakily, he sat on the top step and tilted his head back, closing his eyes as the vestiges of the chill of the Ghost Zone melted into welcome warmth.

It was a temporary respite. Within a few days, he’d have to return to recharge. A chill that had nothing to do with his core wrapped around his spine as he wondered that if one day, cocooned in the soothing song of the realm of the dead, Phantom simply wouldn’t come back.


End file.
